Dragon Key
by Fushichou Doragoneel
Summary: My first attempt at a chapter story, let me know if you want me to keep going or make it short and sweet. THX:)
1. Dragon Key?

**Alright, this is going to be my first attempt at a longer chapter story. Let me know if you want me to continue or make it short and sweet. **

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**Chapter 1: Dragon Key**

"Luce," a certain dragon slayer mumbled from his current spot on her bed.

"What now, Natsu?" Lucy sighed, she was in the middle of another chapter of her story, with Levey constantly reading and wanting the next chapter, it was a little difficult to keep up, "What is it?" she questioned as the dragon slayer flipped onto his side to look at her, "Is there a dragon key?"

She blinked. Never expecting Natsu to ask this question, she actually wasn't sure. "Um, seeing the vast variety, there may be one..." she mused.

Lucy was surprised that she had never considered the question herself. she racked her brains, trying to remember as many constellations as possible. "Oh! I know! I'll ask Crux! Lucy said joyfully, referring to the somewhat aged cross spirit, "Open, gate of the Southern Cross, Crux!"

"Ne, Luce, are you sure he'll know? He looks too old to remember anything to me." Natsu commented, earning a death glare from Lucy.

"Ignore him, Crux. I want you to find out if there is a dragon key." Lucy said, still holding a glare at Natsu.

The two continued to glare at each other,while Crux floated deep in thought.

"AHH!" Crux roared, breaking the stare off.

"What? What is it Crux?" Lucy demanded as a startled and slightly frightened Natsu spun around in confused circles.

"Well," Crux began, "There are some dragon related constellations, there is Hydra the Water Serpent, Hydrus the Water Snake, Lacerta the Lizard, and Ophiuchus the Serpent of course. The only true dragon constellation is Draco the dragon. however, Draco is an extremely rare silver key. However, aside from the commonly known 88 constellations, there are many others lesser ones as well as a group few know about.

"The other group, they are refered to, by the ones who actually know of their existence, as the elemental keys. Their constellations are so far, they are impossible to see. Even with the most advanced magic possible. There is Naisanguis, gate of the Serpent Nymph; Terrabestia, gate of the Earthen Beast; Pennataura, gate of the Feathered Spirit; and Dracounum, gate of the One Dragon."

Lucy's eyes widened with shock and pleasure, "really?"

Crux coughed, "Not really, in a way they are not spirits, they are also linked to other celestial keys. For example, Pennataura is linked to Cygnus, Aquila, Columba, Grus, and various other keys, but more specifically Cygnus."

"Wait, back up, what do you mean 'Linked' to other keys? How are they 'In a way not spirits'?!" Lucy wondered out loud.

Crux coughed again, "To be honest I'm not sure myself. That's all I ever found out, good-bye!" and with that, he vanished.

Lucy groaned, that talk with Crux had helped, but also added to her confusion. Not really celestial spirits? "Do they even have keys? Crux never told me!"

"Who knows? You should have asked him where we could find them."

Lucy jumped, she had almost forgotten that Natsu was still there.

"besides, he looked like he was hiding something to me." Lucy raised an eyebrow, Natsu talking sense? What was going on?

"Anyway, what's for dinner? I'm starving!"

Lucy smiled with relief, at least it was the same old Natsu.

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**A/N: Well! I finally finished the first chappy! Actually, I had it finished but never had the time to upload :) I'm gonna change the chapter names after I figure out how to... Anywho, next chapter will be called The Job. I know. It's amazing :P For those of you who haven't figured it out, this chapter is**** called Dragon Key****. I'll upload the next chapter as soon as possible.**


	2. The Job

**Next chapter up!**

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**Chapter 2: The** **Job**

"What's that, Flame-Brain?"

"You heard me, bring it on, Stripper!"

Lucy rolled her eyes, they were at the guild and Natsu and Gray were fighting again, only to be stopped by a glare from Erza. Lucy had stayed up the whole night researching the 4 keys, only to have Natsu finally drag her into be to sleep. He was supposed to stay on the couch, but had somehow ended up on her bed again. Lucy didn't mind that much anymore, she appreciated the extra heat and for some reason, slept better with the dragon slayer around. Not like she'll ever admit that, though.

THey were accidentally discovered by Erza and Levey when they came to take her to the guild because they accidentaly overslept. Lucy was mercilessly teased all morning by Levey and Erza, and strangely, Juvia too. She had managed to counter Levey with Gajeel, who raised an eyebrow when he heard his name mentioned, and to see a blushing Levey attempt not to look at him. Lucy was unable to say something to Erza, but had a sneaking suspicion of her and Jellal's relationship. The moment she mentioned Gray, Juvia had already disappeared to search for her dear Gray-sama. "Lucy-san!" Lucy looked up to see Wendy hurrying to her, clutching a request paper in her hands, "I saw this on the board, I thought you may want it!"

"Arigatou, Wendy" Lucy replied, looking at the request paper. It was a request to defeat a group of monsters terrorizing a small village. The reward was 800,000 jewls. A rather large reward for a regular job. She decided to take the whole team, though she didn't know why Wendy gave it to her. Her rent was due soon, though...

Her eyes strayed down the paper, only to notice in tiny writing, "If the job is done well enough, a rare celestial key will also be rewarded." Lucy's eyes widened, the rarest ones were the 12 zodiac keys and the 13th gate, which were in the possession of Lucy and Yukino. "That may be one of the 4 keys Crux was talking about!" She thought excitedly. She paused, Crux had never said that the 4 gates had keys, it was worth checking out though. Plus, the reward was large too. Lucy jumped out of her seat and ran of to get Natsu and the rest.

Natsu looked up as Lucy ran up to them; her face all lit up in that amazing way of hers, as she explained they job and the reward, along with they key. "Sure!" Natsu grinned.

"Alright!" Erza announced, "We'll meet at the train station tomorrow at 8!"

The smile slipped off of Natsu's face as he realized that he would have to ride a train, and could already feel the nausea coming.

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"Mmph," Natsu groaned as his head flopped onto Lucy's lap, "mmp..."

"What's that, Natsu?" Lucy questioned after Natsu incoherently mumbled in her lap. His head twisted in her direction, repeating his question.

"Are we there yet?"

"No," came Erza's stoic reply, "We have around another hour left."

"Hey, idiot. how come you seem to somewhat relax every time you lie in Lucy's lap?" Gray demanded, curious why the dragon slayer seemed somewhat fine in Lucy's lap, but immediately got nauseous again after getting up.

"Phfft," Happy snorted, "It's because he likes her scent, it can help calm him down. That's why he started laying in her lap, _duh_," he continued as he munched his fish.

Natsu was spared of his embarrassment since his face was covered by Lucy's lap. However, Lucy's blush was visible to the world as an awkward silence fell over the team for the rest of the ride. Later, the train stopped and Natsu jumped up, "We're here!" he roared, bolting off of the train before anyone could react.

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"I thank you for coming." the team was facing an elderly man.

He gave a sigh and continued, "As the paper said, our small village has been attacked by several monsters. They endanger the people, destroy crops and property, and kill off our animals."

"We'll do it!"Natsu exclaimed, "I'll beat them all!"

"There's something you should know," the man interrupted, "Everytime the monsters attack, it's not senseless destruction," he continued, failing to notice the team all glare at Natsu.

"They attack in a uniform way, then as if on signal, they retreat."

After a moment of silence, Erza spoke up. "Alright, let's move out."

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**Done! Sorry for not being able to upload sooner. I've been super busy and just figured out how to add chapters, so thank you to TheFoodItives for helping me out! I'm planning to upload a couple more chapters soon. If you have any suggestions, leave it in a review or PM me. Thanks!**

**~Fusichou Doragoneel**


	3. Trapped

**Wow, Chapter 3 up already! I'll try to post more soon, enjoy!**

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Lucy shifted again. They had been waiting got the monsters for at least half an hour. There was a rustle of leaves to her right, and she guessed that Natsu was getting impatient again. Out of nowhere, a hand reached out, covering her mouth with a cloth. Lucy tried to scream, but could feel herself growing weak as she sank into unconsciousness.

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Lucy groaned awake. She glanced around, and noticed that she was chained to a wall, her keys gone. Her arms were cuffed with iron chains in a dark dungeon. She shuddered. She hated dungeons, they reminded her of the time she was kidnapped by Phantom Lord and when she was imprisoned in Edolas. Both nearly caused her to fall to her death. In Edolas, Happy and Charle caught her. With Phantom Lord, Natsu had caught her. Lucy tried not to blush as she thought about how he had caught her, or when- Her train of thought was cut off as she heard a mocking voice speak, "Our little princess awakens." the voice sent shivers up her spine.

Lucy whipped around, trying to find the location of the voice, wishing she had senses as sharp as Natsu did, her eyes straining to penetrate the dark dungeon. A shadowy figure stepped out of the shadows. He was dressed finely and was somewhat handsome, but there was just something about that smile and that smooth voice that put Lucy on edge. Maybe it was that scar that ran across his neck and traveled down under his robes, or maybe the way he spoke to her, like he knew her so well and they were close, close enough that they could be together. Neither made sense. Both he and Natsu had scars near or on their necks, and spoke to her that way. The man stepped closer, still calmly smiling. "Now that I have you here, you'll never be found. Your precious little friends will be run down by my monsters." his hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him, "Now, why don't we have a little fun?"

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**Yah, I know this one is short. The next one will probably also be short. Longer chapters should come up soon. I'm thinking of doing another one shot...**

**-Fushichou Doragoneel**


	4. Hopeless

**Chapter 4!**

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Lucy struggled again as the foul man stepped closer. She twisted and spat into his face, struggling against the chains that bound her to the wall. "A feisty one we have here!" the man leaned in, "I like that."

Lucy could feel his disgusting breath on her face as he leaned closer. "Natsu!" she screamed, hoping the dragon slayer could hear her with is sensitive ears. "He's going to come, he always does. Come on Natsu!" Lucy chanted in her head praying that the dragon slayer would save her like he always had.

"You're a monster!" Lucy cried, as he grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"Remember me." was all he said, before biting down on her neck, leaving a mark.

Lucy cried out. The man's hands grabbed her shirt, pulling her harshly from the wall. He bared his teeth, "It's over," Lucy thought, as she finally stopped struggling.

The man seemed to realize this, as he smirked. He forced her under him, her eyes dull. Her eyes were covered my her bangs, so no one could see the tears that were threatening to spill out of her now defeated brown eyes. She felt his hand snake down as she waited for the end.

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**There, short and sweet, or should I say short and depressing. Wow, I just realized how short that was. Next chapter will be longer and better, promise. Tell me what you think! Reviews and suggestions appreciated!**

**-Fushichou Doragoneel**


	5. Broken

**Just gonna cut to the chase here.**

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All of a sudden, the man was ripped off of Lucy and hurled to the wall. Through half-open eyes she saw Natsu slam into the man and quickly beat him up. "If you ever touch Lucy again." Natsu snarled, punching him in the face, leaving him knocked out.

Lucy suddenly felt arms wrap around her, and she momentarily tensed with fear, only to reconize Natsu's familiar presence. "Natsu, I knew you would come." she whispered, as the dragonslayer pulled down her ruined shirt.

"It's alright, I took care of him Luce, he won't hurt you anymore, I won't let him."

Her lip trembled, as she buried her face into his chest and started sobbing. "Luce..." he murmured, when Erza and Gray barged into the cell.

"What happened?!" Erza demanded as Gray gawked at the sight of Natsu holding the messed up, sobbing Lucy, wondering if Natsu had finally gotten past his densness.

Natsu glanced at the shivering Lucy, and nodded towards the direcetion of the passed out man. When Erza raised an eyebrow, about to ask for an explanation, Gray put a hand on her arm and shook his head. Gray had a feeling something was worng, and figured it would take a while to fix whatever had seemingly broken Lucy.

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Lucy shivered in her tub. Ever since the incident, she had been unable to sleep, causing Natsu to show up every night to comfort her. She was partially unsure if she should feel upset that her privacy was invaded, or grateful that Natsu was there to constantly comfort her. Her mind traveled back to her first night she came back to Mongolia after the job. she had woken up screaming, and nothing could calm her down until Natsu blushed when she woke up seeing that he fell asleep in a chair and ended up with his face so close to hers. Poor Natsu, staying up all night watching over her all night. Oddly enough, she always seemed to sleep better and never had nightmares with the dragonslyer close by.

Lucy sighed and got out of the tub. She changed and walked out, not surprised to see Natsu and Happy already passed out on her bed. Lucy smiled and shook her head, maybe tonight, she will actually get a good nights sleep. She climbed in and immediately fell aseep.

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**A/N: I know, I know! Sorry for not uploading sooner! I had so much work to do...Gah! School sucks. I also know that this is a short chapter, and the next one will probably also be short, so please bear with me! Remeber, I'm always open to story suggestions.**

**Thanks!  
-Fushichou Doragoneel**


	6. Healed

**Lets get strait to the mojo here.**

**I don't know...**

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After a month or so, Lucy was back to her cheerful self. She had noticed Natsu had been sticking closer to her than ever. Not like she didn't mind, though Natsu and the rest have managed to get the key. It was Cygnus, one of the rarer silver keys. Lucy sighed, after Yukino died, she had given Lucy Pisces, Libra and Ophiuchus. She now had the complete set of zodiac keys.

She ducked as a chair sailed past her head, nearly hitting her. "Lu-chan!"Lucy turned to see Levy waving at her, ignoring Jet and Droy who were practically drooling over her, not noticing the glares Gajeel were sending them, while watching her at the same time.

"Anyway,How far have you gotten on the next chapter? I can't wait to see what happens to Iris!"

Lucy laughed, "I'm almost done!" she promised, going back to writing, failing to notice the chair being hurled at her way.

"LUCE!" she turned just in time to see Natsu tackle her to the ground right as the chair sailed by them, "Watch it!" he roared, immediately jumping back into the fight.

"L-Lu-chan, are you ok?"

Lucy turned to see Levy crouched behind an overturned tabe, "Yeah"

Levy smiled, it seemed, that Lucy had recovered after the incident, mostly thanks to Natsu. She watched as Lucy dragged Natsu away for another job while the fire dragon slayer complained about nearly winning, only to shut up when Lucy promised to treat him to dinner. "Natsu and his stomach." Levy thought, shaking her head in amusement.

She then turned her attention to convince a certain iron dragon slayer to join her on a job...

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**Well, that was a series of short chapters. Next chapter will be longer, promise (which also means it will take longer to update, blegh XP) I have to put up with school (Also blegh) I'll try to upload as soon as possible. Thanks for giving me your patiance! And if you didn't, thank you anyway. :)**

**Oh, and thank you XStep-By-Step'SilverKeysX for pointing out some errors in spelling Levy's name.**

**-Fushichou Doragoneel**


	7. Key

**ARGLSAEKGSDFEWJFLSJDLKFJS!-That was my cry of frustration at the world. Stupid sdfasjdfakjh life! Nay, I'm not considering suicide, before you ask. Anywho, chapter 7!**

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"Hey Luce, I found a key!"

Lucy looked up to see Natsu excitedly waving her over. She carefully made her way across the rocky mountain path to see Natsu carefully pull out a dusty key. She held it up to the light and cleaned it, it looked strange, with small tassels and strange characters written on it. Lucy squinted at it. "Huh, I don't know, what do these characters mean anyway?"

"Anyway," Erza interrupted, " We have completed the mission with minimal damage, thankfully. Let's report back and have Levy translate it."

The group mumble in agreement and walked away from the clearing, key still in Lucy's hand. No one noticed the bright, fire red eyes flash in the darkness, and the near silent rustle of leaves that accompanied it.

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Lucy stopped.

Erza glanced back towards the blonde, "What's wrong, Lucy?"

"I don't know.." she hesitated, "it's just..."

Lucy turned, facing the way they came from, only to see a shadowy figure lunge at her, a flash of white fangs as it went for her throat. Lucy gave a shriek. Jerking back as it missed, barely as Natsu smashed a fist into it and sent it flying, only for it to land and dart back into the dark woods and disappear.

"What the hell was that!?"

Lucy looked up to see Gray inspecting the print it left behind, only for Erza to stop him, jerking him to his feet. "Let's hurry back to the guild." she ordered, marching the ice mage away.

Lucy sighed, and permitted Natsu to help her up. Looking back, she couldn't shake of the foreboding sense that something was going to happen.

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"Huh," Levy commented, "I've never seen ruins or any language like this."

"Me neither" Freed added, tracing the figure with his sword over and over again.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as her continually muttered to himself under his breath. Levy was pouring over book after book that she had Gajeel bring to her, scribbling down in the increasing pile of paper forming around her, also muttering to herself. Levy glanced up, pausing in her work. Freed was will working, with Mira occasionally leaning over his shoulder to make suggestions with the rest of the tribe watching. For once, Natsu and Gray weren't fighting. Instead, the ice mage was trying to show a blushing Juvia something. Lucy was staring into space, trying to concentrate on the book in her hands, obviously distracted. She sifted and she thought about how she and Natsu were getting along, until she saw the title of the book, Romeo and Juliet. Then it hit her. "OH!" she exclaimed, causing everyone to jump. **A/N: The book has absolutely nothing to do with the translation, or does it? Dun dun dun!** Lucy promptly jumped up, only to have Natsu barge into the room at the same time, crashing into her and pinning her to the ground on accident.

Levy permitted herself to laugh for a moment at the situation and at their blushing faces before she started to explain.

"Ah, I see what you did."

Levy jumped and gave a startled squeak, causing a wave of chuckles. "Anyway," she started as people gathered around her. "What I get from this a prophecy, a prediction" she paused as people mumbled among themselves.

"Translated, it says 'Key gate of sorry river, elemental keys become the king' s enchantment to the demons.' This is all I could get from it, but I don't like the sound of it. What I don't get is this, I'm pretty sure some of this is wrong, but there seems to be something keeping me from translating the rest." Levy finished, causing another round of muttering to go through the guild.

By now, Lucy and Natsu had detangled themselves from each other after the fall and had confuzzled **A/N: No, I did not spell it wrong, it's how I say confused.** faces. "No matter, this must be one of the four elements that Crux mentioned!" Lucy exclaimed, her eyes shining. Not noticing the look Natsu sent her way.

She carefully picked up the key, a glint caught her eye. Right in the middle of the keystone was a small symbol written with a vivid fire red. Observation of the other keystones revealed symbols written in aqua blue; pale, wispy cloud blue; and a deep, rich terrestrial brown. "You know what? Your right Natsu." Lucy declared, startling Natsu, "There's something Crux isn't telling us. Let's go!"

She grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the guild.

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"Open, Gate of the Southern Cross, Crux!"

Natsu watched as Lucy summoned Crux, thoughts all jumbled up. Lucy had taken them back to her apartment, not letting go of Natsu's hand until just now to summon Crux. Sure, her grabbed her hand of she had grabbed his hand before; but this time, it felt especially, nice. Natsu shook his head to clear it. No point in thinking about it now. Dragon Key, maybe it could help him find Igneel! Natsu grinned to himself; he may finally be able to see Igneel again! The possibility of seeing his foster father got him all fired up.

"Oi! Crux! Crossman!" Lucy jumped, giving Natsu a glare, only to have it melt into a small smile when he grinned at her, "Do you think that the Dragon Key is connected to real dragons?"

Crux coughed, and was about to reply until Lucy interrupted him. "Can you explain what this is?" she asked, showing him the key.

The moment she did, Crux's eye popped out of his head, face visibly paled, and started stuttering. "W-w-well, th-there's n-nothing r-rea-really."

"Tell us!"Natsu yelled, as Crux disappeared.

Lucy gave a huff and crossed her arms. How was she supposed to figure anything out without information? "Come on, Lucy. We can figure it out ourselves!" Natsu stated confidentially, "We'll figure it out!

Lucy smiled, Natsu always knew how to make her fell better. However, the terrified expression on Crux had on made her nervous. The expression reminded her of the time she was kidnapped by that evil man, and she shuddered, feeling the creeping fear again.

"Wait!" she cried, pulling on Natsu before he jumped from her window, "S-Stay with me, just tonight, okay?"

Natsu blinked, he wasn't expecting that, "Sure", knowing that she was probably thinking about what had happened that night so long ago.

Lucy relaxed, knowing Natsu would be there, she felt more at ease. And honestly, she slept better with the rambunctious dragon slayer around, not that she would ever say that out loud.

"Tomorrow." She promised herself, "Tomorrow I'll find out more about this key.

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**A/N: I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry! Some one stole my book with my whole story written in it at school and I just recently got it back! Sorry for keeping all of you guys waiting and thanks for being patient! This chapter was longer, yay! Cookie for me! Maybe I'll write a Bleach story, hmmm, or a better Jerza story, or one about Romeo and Wendy, Oh! Or-  
**

**Sayuri:...She's ranting again.**

**^.^ she's my little OC ;)**


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